... but fifteen British sailors have been handed over, fully corporeal and apparently sound of spirit, to the British embassy in Tehran and will be going home tomorrow.
I don't mean to be too flip about this development. I hated the brinkmanship; I'm glad it's over; and I'm glad Dick Cheney no longer has these sailors as cheap excuses for the next war he unquestionably still hankers after. I pretty much accept Dave's reading, at the Galloping Beaver, of the problems with Iran's claims according to the law of the sea, and I never forget what happened to Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi at the hands of the Iranian regime in 2003. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would generously be described as a loose cannon, although he's proving himself a clever player, but the Iranians have one undeniably superior claim against any imperial moves made against Iran -- it's their country.
As we have known for some time, though, there is already a mid-level destabilization campaign being conducted against Iran from the north, reportedly through Baluchi militants from Pakistan "encouraged and advised" -- and perhaps funded -- by American officials.
Pakistani government sources say the secret campaign against Iran by Jundullah was on the agenda when Vice President Dick Cheney met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in February.
I'll bet it was. I'll bet it was a lot higher on the agenda than the faked scolding Cheney is supposed to have given Musharraf about Pakistan's porous border regions to the north with Afghanistan, a PR cover clearly meant for consumption by the sweet-minded innocents who still support the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Cheney and Bush have military installations in Baluchistan; they have ways of getting money to any groups they choose; and their own special forces are undoubtedly entering Iran from the north as well.
To anyone trying to stop this madness, my best wishes. Cheney and Bush are not going to be stopped by sweet reason, though.
h/t to sparqui and transplant at Bread and Roses.
Sweet, sour, salty or anything in between......Unfortunately it doesn't matter a whit because reason has absolutely nothing to do with it as far as Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy are concerned.
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I'm just glad the U.K. sailors weren't treated according to Marquis de Abu Grabe principles.